MA PE Licence Eligibility

[soma]

Mine is not an unusual case because I have seen many foreign bachelor degree holders posting in this forum about this topic. After passing FE in April, 2011, I completed my foreign bachelors degree evaluation through NCEES and as usual they reported I am 9 credits short in General Study topics. Even though I exceeded the ABET standard in maths, science and engineering credits, the conclusion is I do not meet the standard. Now PCS tells me that because my education is inferior to their standard they cant forward my file to MA board to issue EIT. I have a masters degree from states with a 3.9 GPA. I dont know if that matters. I will be completing 3 years of work experience in states by Jan, 2012 and I am planning to take PE in April, 2012. Do I get 1 year credit for the experience because I have a masters degree ? Looks like I have two options here,

1) Apply for PE with deficient credits in Bachelors and hope that MA board will approve my application and also expect them to give me 1 year credit for work experience

or

2) Take 3 general studies courses through CLEP ( that will give me 12 credits) , request for reevaluation through NCEES and make my education equivalent to the standard and apply with a better chance of approval. The only concern in this case is I need to spend $600-700 for courses and reevaluation and also invest next 3-4 months of time to complete these courses.

Does any one have similar experience with MA board ? How serious are they with general studies credits ?

I would highly appreciate any advise or thoughts on this issue. Thanks in advance.

 

[tim1981]

Mine is not an unusual case because I have seen many foreign bachelor degree holders posting in this forum about this topic. After passing FE in April, 2011, I completed my foreign bachelors degree evaluation through NCEES and as usual they reported I am 9 credits short in General Study topics. Even though I exceeded the ABET standard in maths, science and engineering credits, the conclusion is I do not meet the standard. Now PCS tells me that because my education is inferior to their standard they cant forward my file to MA board to issue EIT. I have a masters degree from states with a 3.9 GPA. I dont know if that matters. I will be completing 3 years of work experience in states by Jan, 2012 and I am planning to take PE in April, 2012. Do I get 1 year credit for the experience because I have a masters degree ? Looks like I have two options here,
1) Apply for PE with deficient credits in Bachelors and hope that MA board will approve my application and also expect them to give me 1 year credit for work experience

or

2) Take 3 general studies courses through CLEP ( that will give me 12 credits) , request for reevaluation through NCEES and make my education equivalent to the standard and apply with a better chance of approval. The only concern in this case is I need to spend $600-700 for courses and reevaluation and also invest next 3-4 months of time to complete these courses.

Does any one have similar experience with MA board ? How serious are they with general studies credits ?

I would highly appreciate any advise or thoughts on this issue. Thanks in advance.

From what I understand there is not a lot of leeway for a state board to overlook something missing from a candidate's application. If your education isn't certified as ABET equivalent by the NCEES, the state board cannot, by law, grant you a license. I would take a couple of classes in something that interests you at night and then get a re-evaluation. I'd also be careful to check if your experience thus far counts. Some states require that the experience be gained after completing the degree so they may say, since you aren't ABET equivalent yet, that you need 3 more years of experience after you complete the 9 credits to qualify. I have no idea if MA would be that stringent, but I would call the board and ask them that specifically.

 

[soma]

Mine is not an unusual case because I have seen many foreign bachelor degree holders posting in this forum about this topic. After passing FE in April, 2011, I completed my foreign bachelors degree evaluation through NCEES and as usual they reported I am 9 credits short in General Study topics. Even though I exceeded the ABET standard in maths, science and engineering credits, the conclusion is I do not meet the standard. Now PCS tells me that because my education is inferior to their standard they cant forward my file to MA board to issue EIT. I have a masters degree from states with a 3.9 GPA. I dont know if that matters. I will be completing 3 years of work experience in states by Jan, 2012 and I am planning to take PE in April, 2012. Do I get 1 year credit for the experience because I have a masters degree ? Looks like I have two options here,
1) Apply for PE with deficient credits in Bachelors and hope that MA board will approve my application and also expect them to give me 1 year credit for work experience

or

2) Take 3 general studies courses through CLEP ( that will give me 12 credits) , request for reevaluation through NCEES and make my education equivalent to the standard and apply with a better chance of approval. The only concern in this case is I need to spend $600-700 for courses and reevaluation and also invest next 3-4 months of time to complete these courses.

Does any one have similar experience with MA board ? How serious are they with general studies credits ?

I would highly appreciate any advise or thoughts on this issue. Thanks in advance.

From what I understand there is not a lot of leeway for a state board to overlook something missing from a candidate's application. If your education isn't certified as ABET equivalent by the NCEES, the state board cannot, by law, grant you a license. I would take a couple of classes in something that interests you at night and then get a re-evaluation. I'd also be careful to check if your experience thus far counts. Some states require that the experience be gained after completing the degree so they may say, since you aren't ABET equivalent yet, that you need 3 more years of experience after you complete the 9 credits to qualify. I have no idea if MA would be that stringent, but I would call the board and ask them that specifically.

Thanks Tim, I am inclining towards taking the general study courses. My Credential Evaluator at NCEES was advising me that I do not necessarily have to take course because board would take a broader look at my profile rather than just my degree evaluation. Have also seen in this forum people posting about them getting approved with deficient general studies credits. But thats an agonizing process to put the application together and wait for board to approve it. I am certain that they do not have the restriction of gaining the experience after these courses because I already have a masters degree and far more than required number of engineering, design , maths and science cerdits.